Govt urged to help Maritime University acquire training vessel
The Maritime Professionals Club (MPC) has urged the government to provide the Regional Maritime University (RMU) with a training vessel to enhance practical training of cadets from the institution.
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The MPC said the provision of such a facility would enable the RMU to offer hands-on training that meets global standards for the cadets.
The First Vice-President of MPC, Chief Engineer Teddy Mensah, made the appeal in an interview with journalists last Thursday after members of the club had donated 50 mattresses and pillows worth GH¢19,000 to the Female Ward of the Tema General Hospital.
The donation was part of activities by the club to mark this year's World Seafarers Day which fell on June 25.
Maritime Professionals Club
The MPC was formed in 2014 with the main objective to enhance and promote professionalism in the maritime sector.
It serves as the backbone for providing expertise and the necessary professional inputs in formulating policies for the emerging oil and gas industry.
Some of its members are engaged in capacity building and in the training of undergraduates at the RMU.
Mr Mensah said shipping companies were in need of experienced seafarers but most of them were not prepared to give graduates the opportunity for practical training.
According to him, although the RMU has partnered the Bernhard Schulte Ship Management (BSM) to provide training and employment opportunities for graduates, such opportunities are limited to only a few while majority of graduates from the university have to look elsewhere for such practical training opportunities, a situation he described as very challenging.
He noted that as seafarers and an alumni body of the Regional Maritime University, which will celebrate its 60th anniversary next year, they were happy to donate to the hospital.
YAF donates
In a related development, members of the Tema Community One branch of the Young Adults Fellowship (YAF) of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) have also donated items worth ¢5000 to the Children's Ward of the Tema General Hospital.
The items included 30 pieces of mosquito nets, medical examination kits, water bottles, cups, kettles, as well confectioneries for the children on admission
A member of the fellowship, Madam Ida Boahene, expressed the hope that the items would help the hospital satisfy some of its pressing needs.
She said the group also visited the various police cells in the metropolis to share food and fellowship with the inmates in a bid to “take the word of God to the unsaved”.
The items were received by Madam Vivian Danso, a Nursing Officer on duty.
She expressed her gratitude to the group and appealed to other individuals and organisations to emulate them.